Living Our Best Lives Following Jesus...

Exciting news! Josiah and I have been accepted as staff with YWAM Lancaster!

We know that we know that we know that we are EXACTLY where we are supposed to be planted for this season and we are seeing growth in our own lives, in our community, and in the region! THANK YOU JESUS!

I just want to lead people into encounters with our Heavenly Father for the rest of my life!

[The most fulfilling place you'll ever be is right in

the center of obedience to God]

We will be stepping into our full-time role as staff the beginning of September and we are so excited to continue partnering with God as He moves in our region!

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WHAT IS OUR FAMILY VISION?

God has called our family specifically into family ministry and our vision is to create communities with healthy families that have been transformed by the power of the Gospel!

We desire to equip, train, and empower each member of the family to KNOW GOD and MAKE HIM KNOWN! One of our long-term visions is to have many schools in nations across the world for kids at risk for trafficking as well as teacher training schools to train parents and teachers to go into unreached people groups and start schools to make disciples!

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WHAT WILL OUR ROLES LOOK LIKE ON STAFF?

KAYLA'S ROLE

As a first step towards this vision, I will be apart of starting a missions driven K-8 Learning Center (two days homeschool and three days teaching on base) at the YWAM Lancaster base beginning in September! Our vision is for children to experience and walk in worship, intercession, and equip them to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and His gifts from an early age!

It’s so exciting for me because this is one step closer to our vision for Cambodia and starting schools there! We hope to build this model here and then be able to raise up teachers and replicate it to other nations to use education as missions and discipleship!

JOSIAH'S ROLE

A major assignment of YWAM Lancaster is training up young people and discipling them through our schools.

For the Fall, Josiah feels led to student staff the Discipleship Bible School, which is a three month school....

In YWAM, we have the value to “do first, then teach” so in order to staff a school, you have to first take a school as a student. So Josiah will be taking the DBS as a student alongside having staff responsibilities and discipling students.

Josiah will most likely be shifting his roles in different quarters and using his gifts in maintenance and maybe even using his culinary degree in our new food trailer at YWAM Lancaster!

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MORE ABOUT YWAM LANCASTER

The Lancaster base is just ONE of over 1,100 locations throughout the world. YWAM Lancaster is a discipleship community, catalyzing a movement of Jesus followers to fulfill the Great Commission! We prioritize a culture of worship and prayer, cultivating dependency on His word to lead us. We desire to be a hosting place for God first, then a training center. Presence priority, First commandment, First place! We live as bold, Gospel messengers to all people in every sphere of society until the whole world hears. We are focused on establishing a sustained Gospel witness in unreached locations and shaping culture for the purpose of transformation in every sphere of society!

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WHAT ARE WE DOING UNTIL WE OFFICIALLY START AS STAFF IN SEPTEMBER?

For the next eight weeks, we are on assignment from YWAM to develop our monthly financial partnership team in order to step into our role as staff!

Since YWAM's inception, the founders, Loren and Darlene Cunningham felt from the Lord that the work of each missionary, ministry, and campus should be built on the principles of "living by faith" and "support-raising". As a result, YWAM adopted a relationship-based approach to missions: everyone is required to raise their own support, primarily through enlisting the partnership of friends, family, and churches, in order to serve with the mission This means volunteers do not receive a salary from YWAM for their work with YWAM. YWAM's founder, Loren Cunningham says about support raising, "It’s accountability, it’s good communication, it’s prayer support. It’s a whole lot of things, but the key goes back to relationship."

Would you prayerfully consider partnering with us financially on a monthly basis?

We would love to have you join our partnership team! By partnering with God's vision, you are sowing into our family and enabling us to walk out our calling in the Kingdom and discipleship here in Lancaster and unto the nations until the whole world hears!

If you feel God leading you to join our team, here's the information on how to give...

Any gift you give is tax-deductible. You can give monthly via check, ACH, auto credit card, or auto debit card.

Online- www.ywamlancaster.com/donate

Click "Support our Missionaries"

Select Josiah & Kayla Shenk and check the reoccuring box

If you have a small business or home business, please check out our Business Partners page for more information on how you can partner with us through your business and write off the donation as an advertising expense on your Schedule C!

THANK YOU for walking this journey with us and for your prayers and love and financial support to make it possible for us to partner with what God is doing here in Lancaster! We appreciate you so much! ️

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ENCOUNTER GROUP

We are also continuing to minister and disciple young adults from the Encounter Group. This weekend we had a retreat at the new building they were gifted to use!

God moved in beautiful ways and led each of us to a new place of surrender!

Josiah and I are also hosting a small group this summer with young adults from the Encounter group to continue to disciple and build community within the Encounter group and provide a hosting place for God's presence during the week!

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We would love to set up a time together to share more about what God has been doing in Lancaster and share the vision God has given us for Lancaster and the nations!

ALL GLORY BE TO GOD FOR HE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS!

Love & Prayers,

The Shenks